#41.1 The Second
Passover
Please first read: JST John 5:1-47
Note:
This post, #41.1, will consider matters pertaining to the Second Passover
itself. Jesus Healing on the Sabbath will be covered in post #41.2.
President
J. Reuben Clark Jr.:
“Jesus
goes to Jerusalem to the Passover (the second of his ministry) goes on the
Sabbath to the pool of Bethesda and heals there a man with an infirmity of
thirty-eight years’ standing; Jesus slips away without before
the man can tell who Jesus is; the man tells those asking who healed him
that he does not know; later the man sees Jesus in the Temple and knows
him as Jesus warns him to sin no more; the Jews seek to kill Jesus because
he has healed on the Sabbath (this is the first record of a desire by the
Jewish authorities to kill Jesus.) Jesus preaches to them, proclaiming his
Sonship, for which they again seek his life; he says he does whatever the
Father does; preaches knowing the Father and the Son; he
declares his powers, but can do nothing of himself; he tells of John’s
mission; he is greater than John; tells of work the Father has given
him to do; explains relationship of the Father and himself; tells how
they will be accused.”
John is
the only gospel writer that tells of these six events. (John 5) As
Elder Clark also points out, it is the first record we have of Jewish leaders
desiring to kill Jesus. As their nation is now captive to Rome they can
only execute someone with the approval of the Roman authorities.
Every one
of the following six topics resulted in immediate hostility and objection from
virtually all phases of Jewish leadership.
·
John 5:1-16: Jesus
Heals a Man on the Sabbath.
·
John 5:17-24: Men
Must Honor the Son, unto whom the Father has given equal power.
·
John 5:25: Jesus
Promises to Take the Gospel to the Dead.
·
John 5:26-30: All Will
Be Resurrected, Judged, and Assigned Their Glory By the Son, Jesus, the
Messiah.
·
John
5:31-38: Jesus Obeys the Divine Law of Witnesses required by Jewish Law.
·
John 5:39-47: Search
the Scriptures For They Testify of Jesus as the Messiah
The Passover
The
following excerpt is from Smith’s Bible Dictionary:
Passover,
the first of the three great annual festivals of the Israelites, celebrated in
the month of Nisan (March-April.) Strictly speaking the Passover only applied
to the paschal supper, and the feast of unleavened bread followed thereafter.
This feast was instituted by God to commemorate the deliverance of the
Israelites from Egyptian bondage and the sparing of their first-born when the
destroying angel smote the first-born of the Egyptians. The deliverance
from Egypt was regarded as the starting-point of the Hebrew nation. The
Israelites were then raised from the condition of bondmen under a foreign
tyrant to that of a free people owing allegiance to no one but
Jehovah. The prophet in a later age spoke of the event as a creation and a
redemption of the nation. God declares himself to be the “Creator of
Israel.” The Exodus was thus looked upon as the birth of the nation; the
Passover was its annual birthday feast. It was the yearly memorial of the
dedication of the people to him who had saved their first-born from the
destroyer, in order that they might be made holy to Himself.
The first
celebration of the Passover: On the tenth day of the month the head of
each family was to select from the flock either a lamb or a kid, a male of the
first year, without blemish. The lamb was then roasted
whole. Unleavened bread and bitter herbs were to be eaten with the flesh. Everyone
was to have his loins girt, to hold a staff in his hand, and to have shoes on
his feet. They were to eat in haste and, it would seem, to stand during
the meal. At midnight the first-born of the Egyptians were
smitten. The king and his people were now urgent that the Israelites
should start immediately, and readily bestowed on them supplies for the
journey. In haste did the Israelites depart on that very day.
Ausubel:
The most
beloved of all Jewish holy days is the festival of Passover. Symbolically,
it represents a cherished traditional Jewish value … a love of
freedom. The memory of the Bondage of Egypt, although it occurred at least
thirty-two centuries ago, has continued to rankle in the consciousness of the
Jew. In reality he has never considered … except for the Golden Age of his
people’s greatness in the land of Israel … that the Bondage ever came to an
end. This idea is touchingly projected in the Aramaic prayer at the Seder
(the home-service that opens the celebration of the Passover,) “Behold! This
is as the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt … Now
we are slaves … may we be free men in the year to come.” And so it has
been a firm tradition since the days of the Mishnah Sages (200 BC) after the
destruction of the Second Temple, that Jewish families throughout the world
gather for the performance of the Seder home-service at Passover time. It
is to be eaten in haste, with “loins girded” and staff in hand, as the
Israelites themselves had been when they departed from Egypt.
Geike:
Advance
preparations were very demanding, beyond meticulous in every detail. A few
examples:
·
Specific lines of
travel.
·
Whitewashed
headstones.
·
Removal of unclean
plants in certain fields.
·
Special services in
the temple and synagogues on preceding Sabbath.
·
Meal only male lambs
or goats without blemish.
·
Every particle of
leaven removed from house.
·
Purification of all
vessels used in the feast.
·
Personal purification
rites.
·
Detailed preparation
of water and flour used in the feast.
Apostle
James E. Talmage:
The usual
attendance at the temple celebration in the days of Jesus was undoubtedly
enormous. It was, in fact, the great yearly fair of Jerusalem, and the
crowds added to the din and tumult, till the services in the neighboring courts
were sadly disturbed. Persons going across the city with all kinds
of burdens, shortened their journey by crossing the temple grounds. The
temple courts were a witness that the temple, which should be a House of Prayer
for all nations, had been degraded into a place which, for foulness, was more
like shambles, and for bustling commerce more like a densely-crowded bazaar;
while the lowing of oxen, the bleating of sheep, the Babel of many languages,
the huckstering and wrangling, and the clinking of money and of balances,
might be heard in the adjoining courts, disturbing the chant of the Levites and
the prayers of priests.
Further
defilement of the temple courts occurred by traffickers acting under the
priestly license.
The sale
of the doves was, secretly, in the hands of the priests
themselves. Hannas, the high priest, especially, gained great profits from
his dove cotes. Five per cent exchange was charged to obtain money that
was acceptable for payment to the temple, but this was increased by tricks and
chicanery, for which the class had everywhere earned so bad a name that like
the publicans, their witness would not be taken before a court.
Glenn R.
McGettigan
September
2015
References:
“Our Lord
of the Gospels.” Clark
“Smith’s
Bible Dictionary.”
“Book of
Jewish Knowledge.” Ausubel
“Jesus
the Christ.” Talmage
“The Life
and Words of Christ.” Geike
